If you're five to ten years into the trade in the Cincinnati area and wondering whether the grass pays greener on a different truck, here's the short version: plumbing and electrical sit around $30 an hour at the median, HVAC lands at about $29, and appliance repair trails at roughly $23 to $25. But the number that matters more is this: the gap between the lowest- and highest-paid techs inside each trade is far bigger than the gap between the trades. The shop you work for, the kind of calls you run, and whether you're commercial or residential move your paycheck more than the trade name on your shirt.
The official numbers, trade by trade#
These are BLS-based medians from CareerOneStop (U.S. Department of Labor) for the Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN metro area, plus Ohio statewide medians from OhioMeansJobs. A median means half of techs earn more and half earn less — the honest middle, not an average pulled up by a few high earners.
Cincinnati metro (CareerOneStop):
- Plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters: $30.00/hr median ($62,400/yr), with the reported band running $20.82–$45.90 (2024 data)
- Home appliance repairers: $25.06/hr median ($52,120/yr), band $17.46–$43.73 (2025 data)
Ohio statewide (OhioMeansJobs):
- Electricians: about $30.56/hr median ($63,560/yr, BLS May 2024)
- Plumbers: $30.45/hr median ($63,330/yr)
- HVAC mechanics and installers: $29.08/hr median ($60,490/yr)
- Appliance repairers: $22.77/hr median ($47,360/yr)
Two things stand out. First, electrical, plumbing, and HVAC are bunched within a dollar or two of each other — there is no runaway winner at the median. Second, look at the top of each band: the mid-$40s per hour is reachable in every trade. The ceiling isn't trade-specific. The floor is where the trades differ, and the floor is mostly about where you start, not where you can finish.
What Cincinnati shops are actually posting right now#
Medians describe the middle. Postings describe what employers will put in writing today. A sample of current Cincinnati-area listings:
- Commercial HVAC service technician (5+ years): $35–$47/hr depending on experience
- Commercial HVAC/R technician (multi-site retail accounts): $30–$45/hr
- Residential HVAC service technician (large regional shop): $20–$35/hr base, with top performers clearing $130,000+/yr on performance pay
- Appliance and refrigeration repair technician (national service company): $18–$30/hr base plus performance bonuses and sales incentives
- Plumber/pipefitter journeyman (University of Cincinnati facilities): $35.55/hr
The pattern is hard to miss: experienced techs in commercial and institutional work consistently post above the BLS medians, and performance-based residential pay can blow past hourly medians entirely. If your paycheck sits at the median while postings for your experience level run 20–40% higher, that's not a different trade calling — that's a different employer.
Trade by trade: what actually moves you above the median#
Electrical. The widest spread of the four. Construction, service, and industrial maintenance electricians are effectively different labor markets sharing one trade name. Self-reported Cincinnati data puts the average near $66,000/yr with a typical band of $53,000–$83,000 — but self-reported data skews toward people motivated enough to report. The BLS-based median near $30.56/hr statewide is the steadier anchor. Mid-career in residential service and want more? Industrial maintenance and larger commercial shops are where the top of the band lives.
Plumbing. The most direct path to the top of the median table. OhioMeansJobs lists more open plumbing positions statewide (2,019) than HVAC (1,377), and the Cincinnati median sits at an even $30/hr. Facilities and institutional work — like the University of Cincinnati's $35.55/hr journeyman posting — often beats residential service on both pay and hours. The trade-off hasn't changed: the apprenticeship years pay at the bottom of the band, and there's no shortcut around them.
HVAC. The most posting volume and the most kinds of pay. Straight hourly commercial work advertises $35–$47/hr for experienced techs, while residential shops lean on lower base rates plus performance pay that can take top techs past $130K a year. That split is the whole game in this trade: if you're a strong communicator who sells maintenance agreements and closes replacements, residential performance pay is the highest ceiling available. If you'd rather wrench than sell, commercial hourly is your lane — and it posts higher base rates to match.
Appliance repair. The lowest median and the lowest barrier to entry — no state license, a shorter ramp from helper to lead tech, and steady year-round residential demand. Cincinnati's $25.06/hr median beats the Ohio statewide $22.77, and the top of the band reaches $43.73, which tells you experienced techs at good shops do just fine. The honest trade-off: fewer $40+/hr postings than the other three trades, but the fastest path from green helper to lead tech of the four.
How to use this at mid-career#
1. Benchmark yourself honestly. Five-plus years in and earning under your trade's median? That's a raise conversation backed by public data, not a feeling. Bring the number, bring your callback rate and your average ticket, and ask for the plan that gets you to the median.
2. Don't switch trades for a dollar or two an hour. The median gap between electrical/plumbing and HVAC is about a dollar. Switching trades resets your experience clock — you'd trade a mid-career wage for an entry-level one to chase a gap that one good employer change would cover.
3. Chase the top of the band, not the trade. Every trade's high end sits in the mid-$40s in Cincinnati. Commercial work, on-call rotations, institutional facilities jobs, and performance pay are what separate the top of the band from the median — in all four trades.
4. Follow the openings. OhioMeansJobs shows nearly 3,000 electrician openings statewide and more than 2,000 for plumbing. Volume is leverage. The trades with the most unfilled chairs are the ones where you can negotiate hardest.
The bottom line#
At mid-career in Cincinnati, you're choosing between medians of roughly $29–31/hr in electrical, plumbing, and HVAC, and about $23–25/hr in appliance repair — with a realistic path to the mid-$40s in any of them. Pick the trade whose work you want to do for the next twenty years. Then pick your employer like your paycheck depends on it. Because it does.
Comparing your options? Browse ServiceTechnician's Cincinnati job listings across HVAC, electrical, plumbing, and appliance repair — stack the posted ranges against these medians before your next move, and don't leave money on the table.